From the first moment I discovered my dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it seemed like I was alone in this ugly place. Even ones who had loved ones suffering in this way; even though people TALKED about the disease, it felt for me like they did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…
The immediate crisis that was Breast Cancer and Alzheimer’s have passed. There are, however ancillary issues like testing and treatments that may not be directly related to BC or A but intersect with them. Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: A cancer I’ve never heard of…
“Lepidic growth adenocarcinoma is defined as tumor cells proliferating along the surface of intact alveolar walls without stromal or vascular invasion pathologically (1). The traditional viewpoint has been that of Noguchi, who demonstrated that localized bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (LBAC) showed replacement growth of alveolar-lining epithelial cells with a relatively thin stroma, that LBAC with foci of structural collapse of alveoli were in situ peripheral adenocarcinoma, and that lung cancer patients with these LABCs achieved 100% survival after lobectomy.”
OK – so first of all, I know it’s a form of lung cancer.
I’ve looked at breast cancer that has metastasized to the lungs here: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2018/12/encore-100-metastatic-breast-cancer.html. NOT the same thing, but it’s going to give me a foundation on which to build.
“Nearly 40% of lung cancers are adenocarcinomas, which usually originate in peripheral lung tissue. Most cases of adenocarcinoma are associated with smoking; however, among people who have smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes ("never-smokers"), adenocarcinoma is the most common form of lung cancer. A subtype of adenocarcinoma, the bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, is more common in female never-smokers, and may have a better long-term survival. This cancer usually is seen peripherally in the lungs, as opposed to small cell lung cancer and squamous cell lung cancer, which both tend to be more centrally located.”
“Adenocarcinomas In-Situ lesions are classified as small tumors <3 cm with abnormal type II pneumocyte cell growth that is limited to the alveolar spaces i.e. without invasion into the stroma, pleura, or vasculature. This type of growth is termed ‘lepidic’ and is characteristic of adenocarcinoma of the lung in its earliest stages.”
OK – so here’s what I now understand. The word itself – adenocarcinoma, is derived from adeno-, meaning ‘pertaining to a gland’, and carcinoma, which describes a cancer that has developed in the epithelial cells.” This cancer grows INSIDE the tiny sacs in the lungs called the “alveoli”. Like all cancers, this is about cells growing out of control rather in their normal, programmed way. Instead of doing their job of replacing worn cells in the alveoli, they begin to grow out of control, creating areas of this wild cell growth called lesions.
The word “lepidic” means creating scales or a scaly covering. “The number of alveoli and alveolar sacs are what give your lungs a spongy consistency. Now remember that the alveoli are TINY! Each alveolus is about 0.2 millimeters in diameter (about 0.008 inches). [Comparison: the period at the end of a sentence is 1 and a half mm across; an alveoli is less than half of that across. There are about 600 million alveoli in your lungs and if you stretched them out, they would cover an entire tennis court.]
Each alveolus is cup-shaped with very thin walls. When you take a breath, each alveoli with expand into a little balloon, and when you exhale, they deflate – sort of like a deflated basketball (when it forms a sort of bowl). The “scales” look make it hard for the “balloon” to inflate.
So, to freely interpret: these cancer cells, instead of being flexible balloon-like sacs in your lungs are thicker and don’t’ stretch – which means the alveoli can’t expand. If they don’t expand, they can take in CO2; and they can’t get rid of it, so you feel short-of-breath…which is one of the symptoms of any kind of lung cancer.
The GOOD thing here is that, they believe they caught it early and that (as of the email) it’s only in one lung. Based on that and a generic reading on the internet: “Relative survival rates for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Almost 90% of lung cancers are this type. The National Cancer Institute’s database breaks down the cancers by how far the tumors have spread. These relative survival rates are the average percentages of people who are alive 5 years after diagnosis. Localized (cancer is confined to one lung): 60%.” I’m sure I’ll hear more details as time goes on; and I’ll be able to pray over the cancer more specifically.
Until then, I’ll be praying based on my research.
Resources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5059295/#:~:text=Lepidic%20growth%20adenocarcinoma%20is%20defined,that%20of%20Noguchi%20et%20al., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenocarcinoma, https://www.drugtargetreview.com/news/64834/proteomic-map-of-human-lung-adenocarcinoma-revealed/, https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/lungs.html#:~:text=At%20the%20end%20of%20each,cover%20an%20entire%20tennis%20court.
Image: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWFDJVgpz0G9kdb-eRXgRxMiv-Qz-Moaiw9w&usqp=CAU
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